MSU Engineering College Adds Biomedical Engineering Department

EAST LANSING — The Michigan State University College of Engineering is getting a new academic department.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering was approved by the MSU Board of Trustees Oct. 24, opening the door for collaborative healthcare-related research between the college and rest of campus.

The effective date for the new unit will be Jan. 1. The first courses in the new department will be offered in spring 2016.

Provost June Pierce Youatt said the new department will become a focal point for technological innovations in healthcare technology applied to the medical needs identified by physicians, nurses, and health scientists in hospital, clinic, and home settings.

“This department will be uniquely positioned to bring technological
innovations to the vast state-wide network of healthcare providers served by the University,” she said.

Leo Kempel, dean of the College of Engineering, said MSU’s new
department will become a lightning rod between the college and the rest of campus.

“This will allow the expansion of translational research at MSU and provide a framework for expanding our collaborations in translational health care,” he said.

Kempel said a search for the new chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering will begin soon.

“It will take three to five years to get this rolling, but we anticipate hiring new faculty as early as fall 2015,” Kempel said. “The department will start with master’s degree and doctoral students. An undergraduate program could follow once the department and its faculty are firmly established.”

It is the first new academic department in the MSU College of Engineering since the Department of Computer Science and Engineering was established in 1969.

The MSU College of Engineering has seven academic departments serving 4,900 undergraduate and more than 800 graduate students through 10 undergraduate and nine graduate degree programs. For more, visit www.egr.msu.edu